Journey to a New Life.
}} Prologue "Crookshanks, you have to go," Hermione said to the orange ball of fur, "Go find someone else to live with, just don't be here. It's not safe here anymore." He purred, "I'll miss you," He wished that Hermione could understand him, then brushed his fur against her face breifly, and she scratched between his ears, then jumped out of Hermione's arms and ran into the bushes that surronded the Burrow. Crookshanks ran, through the town of Ottery Saint Catchpole, through farm fields, occasionally stopping to hunt some mice to eat, and when he found water, he gladly drank. Two days passed before he came across a swappy area. He wrinkled his nose as he smelt horrible swap smells, and stepped in mud, getting his paws awfully dirty. Hermione would be absolutely disgusted. He thought. He lifted his muzzle and sniffed. Mice, frogs, water...and other cats. He tried to run, but the mud made it hard, and he was soon enough faced by four cats; a strong-looking, hissing ginger tom, a white she-cat, a brown tom with a scar on his back and a ragged-furred black tom. Crookshanks starred at the cats as they hissed and occasionally claws at the air. "Who are you?" The ginger one hissed, "What are you doing on ShadowClan territory?" Crookshanks widened his eyes at the mention of 'ShadowClan'. What was this 'ShadowClan' that the ginger cat was speaking of? "I didn't know other cats lived here," Crookshanks meowed, "I am not used to wandering around on my own. My owner, Hermione, told me to look for a new home, because she thinks it's unsafe for me to live with her now." "Why is it unsafe?" The white she-cat hissed, "Why couldn't you stay with her?" "Because of Lord Voldemort," Crookshanks said, "He's coming to kill innocent witches, wizards and animals, so Hermione told me to go." The ragged-furred cat came forward and sniffed Crookshanks, "He'd make a good warrior." He mewed in a somewhat deep voice. "Strong muscles, hard pads and long claws." The tom with the scar growled, "Would he be loyal though?" Crookshanks smiled and nodded, "I am very loyal," he purred. The ginger tom growled. "We do not take in kittypets," He hissed, "We will take you to our border with ThunderClan, then Bramblestar can choose if he wants to take you in or not." The ginger tom then raised his tail, and the other cats followed him, "Hurry up," he hissed at Crookshanks. Chapter One The group of cats walked through the dark territory, looking for, as Crookshanks understood, 'a border with ThunderClan'. What is ThunderClan? he wanted to ask, but if he did, what would the cats around him do? He decided to ask the ragged-furred black cat for information; he seemed to be a bit friendlier than the others. "Who are you?" Crookshanks asked quietly. It seemed a suitable question. "I am Smokefoot," He replied, "Warrior of ShadowClan. And I've you're wondering," He mewed, when Crookshanks opened his mouth to ask what ShadowClan was, "ShadowClan is one of the four Clans of the lake, they are ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and us, ShadowClan." Crookshanks widened his eyes, "What do you do?" He asked, awed. "We, ShadowClan, are amazing night hunters. We can hunt prey in the darkest of nights. RiverClan hunt fish, and they enjoy swimming, though I'd rather not get my fur wet," He meowed, "WindClan are swift cats, they live on the moor and hunt rabbits, because they are fast enough to catch them, and ThunderClan, who are quite the skilled hunters, but they let in kittypets, loners and rogues left, right and center." "So, how are these Clans, um, set up?" Crookshanks asked. "Clans are pretty simple," mewed Smokefoot, "They have a leader, head-of-Clan, they are, our leader is Blackstar, RiverClan's is Mistystar, WindClan is Onestar, and ThunderClan's-" Smokefoot stopped abruptly. The ginger cat had just yowled loudly. "That's Rowanclaw, by the way," whispered Smokefoot, "He's the deputy, second-in-command of ShadowClan, RiverClan's is Reedwhisker, Ashfoot is WindClan's, and ThunderClan's is Squirrelflight," he mewed, "and there she is now." A ginger she-cat stepped out of the bushes, her tail was long as fluffy, and she walked with grace. She turned to face the group of cats, then a huge dark brown tabby stepped out behind her. The tabby looked at the cats, and meowed, "What is it, Rowanclaw?"